The Days Before
by crossyourfingers
Summary: Set after The Southern Raiders: After Katara finally accepts Zuko as a part of their group, where will their relationship go? Will the stress of the soon to come Sozin's Comet create new relationships, or divide some apart? Zutara obviously.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is set right after Zuko and Katara come back from their trip to find Yon Rha, so everything before this moment is canon, but I'm changing 'the hug' slightly. Ember Island Players and the finale will obviously be different too. Oh and this is my first fanfic like ever so I would really appreciate it if you guys went easy on me, but give me constructive criticism. Thanks!**

The sun was just starting to set as Katara sat out on the pier, overlooking the beautiful, shimmering waters of Ember Island. She looked dejectedly down at the water as she splashed it with her feet. She heard Appa fly overhead and land close by, but didn't bother to look up. Katara closed her eyes and continued to just sit, thinking about things she wished would go away, memories she hated to relive, and the journey she had just taken that had not gone how she planned—whether that was a good or bad thing, she didn't know.

"Katara!" she heard Aang call. His voice, she suddenly noticed, wasn't as high pitched as it used to be. It was becoming deeper, more gravely, like Zuko's. She ignored him, and continued to stare down as her feet splashed the cool ocean waters.

"Are you okay?" Aang asked as Zuko and Aang approached her.

"I'm doing fine," Katara said, harsher than she intended, but didn't turn around.

Aang continued speaking to her back. "Zuko told me what you did…or, what you didn't do I guess. Aang paused. "I'm proud of you."

As Katara answered, she continued to look out at her element. "I wanted to do it," she said sadly and angrily. "I wanted to take out all my anger on him but I couldn't."

Katara closed her eyes shut tight. "I don't know if it's because I'm too weak to do it, or if it's because I'm strong enough not to," she ended quietly.

"You did the right thing," Aang said. He was in his Avatar/monk mode. "Forgiveness is the first step you have to take to begin healing."

As Aang was talking, Katara had stood up. Although Aang was just trying to help, he didn't understand. He never would. He was a peace-loving monk and Avatar and also a 12 year-old boy. He didn't understand the emotions she was going through. Only Zuko, she realized, could completely understand how hurt and upset she was feeling.

"But I _didn't_ forgive him," she said angrily and seriously to Aang. She wanted to make sure that he understood. "I never will," Katara ended as Aang looked at her with shock and disappointment.

Aang saw Katara as this perfect girl, with no faults. That's why he loved her so much. But this new, mature Katara, he felt as if he didn't know. Katara was suddenly growing up so fast while Aang was still in his 12 year-old mindset.

Suddenly, Katara turned her grave eyes away from Aang and her expression softened drastically. Katara looked at Zuko with an expression that both Aang and Zuko had never seen her give him. It was an expression Zuko had hoped for the most, but was terrified would never happen. Acceptance.

"But I am ready to forgive you." It was the most sincere statement Katara had ever given and she was suddenly overwhelmed with emotion: emotion of the past few days with Zuko. He stood by her no matter what happened, through all her craziness and pain, and just accepted her for who she was. He had no perfect image of her like Aang. Zuko knew, better than anyone, that no one was perfect and had a dark side and problems that they had to work through.

How wrong Katara was to think that Zuko had a hidden agenda. Zuko was genuinely trying to be the best man he could be, and Katara was overwhelmed with guilt and shame at her actions, but at the same time, in pride at his own.

Suddenly Katara flung her arms around Zuko's neck and held as tight as she could, trying as hard as she could in that instance to show him her gratitude towards him and her thankfulness that Zuko was there with her.

As soon as Katara came at him, Zuko just as eagerly wrapped his long arms around her waist, resting his head in her soft hair. Both closed their eyes and forgot about the rest of the world, just happy that they were making up.

"I'm _so_ sorry Zuko," Katara managed to squeak out, her voice trembling with emotion. "So, _so_ sorry for everything."

"It's okay, Katara. Everything will be alright. Everything is fine. Don't worry." Zuko's voice was muffled in Katara's hair as he spoke, but Katara still caught every word. If possible, she held on even tighter, just relieved at the understanding in Zuko's voice.

Suddenly, Katara pulled away and looked to the side, refusing to meet Zuko's eyes. "Ugh, sorry. I don't know why I'm crying."

That was when Zuko realized her bright blue eyes were glistening with tears as a few streaked down her face. Zuko was slightly uncomfortable, never good with crying girls as most guys were. Katara could tell and tried to clean herself up by wiping the tears off of her face. But Zuko got there first.

Unsure if what he was doing would make things better, and honestly slightly uncomfortable with the whole situation, Zuko reached out and wiped the tears off of Katara's cheeks. Katara looked up at him with a confused expression at first, but then with a watery smile. Zuko smiled back and dropped his hands back down to his sides after a few seconds of wiping all the tears off her pretty face.

Aang watched the entire interaction between Zuko and Katara, torn between happiness at their obviously innocent and genuine making-up, and a tiny gnawing feeling in the pit of his stomach that wasn't so innocent, jealousy.

Zuko and Katara suddenly seemed to get a hold of themselves as Aang cleared his throat lightly. Katara stared up at Zuko again and smiled as she brought her hand to his shoulder. She lightly grazed her hand down his shoulder, as she walked down the pier to where her brother, Sokka, was waiting with Appa. As she left, Zuko turned and stared at her retreating form with a smile as if he didn't know what had just happened, wasn't complaining.

When Katara got to her brother, she looked back and smiled. Suddenly, however, Sokka lunged at his sister from behind. All that could be heard were snippets of "best little sister ever…", "don't know what you were…", and "didn't hurt Zuko, right?"

Zuko was suddenly broken out of his trance by this and remembered Aang was still on the pier with him.

"You were right about what Katara needed," he said to appease the obviously waiting Avatar. "Violence wasn't the answer."

Aang looked up knowingly at the tall figure beside him. "It never is," he said with certainty in his voice.

Zuko was worried and confused with what Aang had just said, especially when Sozin's Comet was a few weeks away. Aang was still holding onto his naïve attitudes about life. Just because violence wasn't the right answer for Katara, didn't mean that it wasn't the obvious right choice against his father, the Firelord.

Aang noticed Zuko's face turning solemn and serious. "Then I have a question for you. What are you going to do when you face my father?" Zuko asked bluntly.

Aang suddenly straightened up, shocked and unsure. He was _not_ expecting that from him. Zuko, with the look of Aang's firebending sifu, stared down hard at Aang, waiting for an answer.

Aang suddenly felt much younger and smaller compared to Zuko and looked up into Zuko's serious countenance. "I don't know."

* * *

"Are we almost there yet? I'm starving!"

Zuko, Katara, Sokka, and Aang were on the latter's flying bison, headed towards the royal family's old beach house. They had agreed to stay there because number one, no one would go there because of the mess Zuko had previously made during his last visit, and number two, because his family hadn't come there, and his father probably hadn't thought of the place, in years.

"Yes Sokka, we're almost there. We've only been flying for 10 minutes anyway," answered Zuko rolling his eyes, but with an amused expression on his face.

Katara and Aang giggled. Zuko didn't expect to, but he really missed Sokka's antics. It really lightened up their serious situation, something that neither Zuko nor Katara were able to do during their 'field trip.'

Suddenly Aang, from atop Appa's head, pulled the reigns and they were out of the cloud bank. Despite the darkness, the island was lit up enough to be able to see the house in the cliff face.

"Wow Zuko. This is just your beach house? It's like 10 times bigger than me and Sokka's house at the South Pole." Zuko watched Katara as she took in the house and beach surrounding it. "It's beautiful," she sighed.

"Yeah, well I guess that's the perks you get for being royalty," responded Zuko.

"We should've gotten a vacation home somewhere, Katara," said Sokka suddenly, with his 'thinking' expression on. "I mean technically we're kinda sorta like royalty because Dad's the chief, right?" Sokka looked up hopefully at Zuko and Katara.

"I don't think it really works like that, Sokka," said Zuko, trying to sympathize with him.

"Yeah, Sokka," interjected Katara. "The South Pole doesn't have a monarchy like the any of the other nations or the North Pole."

Sokka looked dejectedly at the house below, which was quickly becoming bigger and bigger. His logic was trumped and he knew it.

Appa landed on the beach in front of the house and Zuko stood up.

"We have a stable out back," explained Zuko to Aang as he went to sit atop the bison's head. "I'll bring Appa there. We don't want anyone spotting him. Oh, and I'll need you to help me bring some hay from around the side of the house."

"Okay," replied Aang as he jumped off of Appa and landed safely and lightly on the sand by way airbending. The Watertribe siblings climbed down Appa less gracefully and walked up the steps to the front of the huge beach house.

As they stepped through the broken doorway, Katara and Sokka spotted Suki and Toph sitting in the living room on floor cushions.

"Katara!" yelled Toph and Suki as they scrambled up from the cushions and went to greet Katara. "Hey Suk—," said Sokka, his arms wide open and waiting, but Suki scrambled right past him and gave Katara a giant hug. Sokka stood their looking like a lost puppy as he slowly put his arms down.

"Don't be such a big baby," said Toph as she walked past him with a sly grin. "It's only been a few hours since she's seen you."

"Are you okay?" Suki asked Katara in a very sisterly fashion as Toph caught up to them and gave Katara a half hug, half punch.

"Ouch, yes, I'm alright. I'm fine," responded Katara as she thought of the bruise that was sure to appear on her arm the next morning.

"What happened to Sparky?" asked Toph, almost managing to look into Katara's eyes. "You didn't kill him did you?" she asked, smiling.

"No Toph," she sighed. "_Zuko_," Katara stressed his real name, "is perfectly fine. He and Aang are bringing Appa into the stables and getting him some hay."

Toph noticed that no malice could be heard in Katara's voice as she spoke Zuko's name. "So, did you guys finally kiss and make up? 'Cause, no offense Katara, but you were getting _really_ annoying there," Toph said in her typical blunt fashion.

Katara sighed. "Thanks, Toph. And yes, we're perfectly fine now. I know I was being really childish and stupid and I just want to apologize to all of you for the way I've been acting." Katara was now addressing everyone, not just Toph.

"No problem, Katara," Suki replied genuinely.

"Yeah," agreed Sokka as he managed to sneak his way over to them and put his arm around Suki. "Zuko deserved to get roughed up a bit after everything he did," said Sokka smiling.

"I did?" came a voice from the doorway. Two silhouettes, one tall and one short, could be seen in the doorway. As they walked further into the lit house, it could easily been seen that Zuko and Aang had finished getting Appa settled in.

"Zuko!" jumped Sokka. "I didn't see you guys there! That's not what I meant… I mean what I was really trying to—," Sokka didn't get to finish his sentence as Zuko cracked a slight lopsided smile.

"Sokka, I know what you meant. Don't worry about it," he cut in.

Everyone laughed at that, and the mood became light. As Zuko looked around, he could tell people wanted details, and now. "Um," started Zuko, somewhat uncomfortably, "I know you guys probably want to know the, uh, stuff, that happened the past few days, but, uh, I don't think myself or Katara," he nodded at her, "really wants to have to like explain everything tonight," Zuko finished lamely. "If that's alright with you," Zuko suddenly added with a guilty expression on his face for not discussing it with Katara first.

Katara felt Zuko's unease and wanted to put him out of his misery. She looked up at him and smiled. "Yeah Zuko, that's a good idea."

Katara looked at the rest of the group and added, "We're just really tired and, uh, I think we both need a good night's sleep before we can tell everyone, you know, all the details."

"Yeah," said Zuko, visibly relaxing. "I'll show you guys where you'll be staying I guess."

Zuko gestured for everyone to follow him up the double staircase and into the upstairs hallway. "Sorry if it's really messy," Zuko said sheepishly. "No one's stayed her in a really long time.

"Not a problem," said Toph as she cockily told Zuko to open all the doors.

Zuko did as he was told and waited in the hallway with the rest of the expectant group. Suddenly Toph got into a low stance and pounded her feet lightly. She suddenly straightened up and grinned at everyone. Each group member looked into a room and saw that all of the debris and dust was suddenly gone from the bedrooms.

As per Sokka, he suddenly exclaimed, "I am _still_ SO glad that we added you to our group! No cleaning! Yes!" Sokka hugged Toph and ran to a bedroom.

"I call this one!" Sokka said as Toph stood there blushing slightly.

Toph quickly recovered herself and ran into the next biggest room and shut the door, as did Aang with the third largest bedroom.

"Me and Katara will share this room," said Suki as she entered the room to her right. "It's more than big enough!" she called from inside.

Zuko looked at the room directly across the hall to the left. "I guess that means I get my old bedroom," said Zuko, with a look on his face that Katara couldn't quite read.

"Is something wrong, Zuko?" asked Katara as she stayed out in the hallway.

Zuko looked down at her with a sad smile and said, "It doesn't really matter. I don't want to burden you with my stupid problems," he said quietly.

Katara looked up at him and grabbed his hand, turning him so he faced her entirely. "I burdened you with my stupid problems," Katara replied as Zuko's golden eyes finally met Katara's blue. "Plus," she added as a second, yet just as important thought, "we're _friends_ now Zuko."

At the word friends, Zuko snapped to attention and a small smile graced his features. Katara squeezed his hand encouragingly.

"It's just that this place kinda brings back all the memories of times when my family was, you know," he paused, "actually a family." He looked at their joined hands. "When my mom was still around," he added, the smile disappearing from his face.

Katara too, looked at their clasped hands, not sure how to respond to that. At last she said, "Well, I know that we'll never replace your mother, but you'll make new memories in this house here, with us." She looked up at his handsome scarred face. "With me," she added.

Katara somehow knew exactly what to say to make him feel, although not a lot, better. "Thanks," he said to her as he dropped her hand. "You're really good at this advice stuff," he murmured. "Not like me," he added, "I'm terrible."

Katara smiled, "I'm sure you're not all the bad. You helped me with, uh, all that stuff." Katara clearly didn't want to face what happened the past few days at that instant.

"Yeah, I guess," Zuko replied half-heartedly. "Well goodnight," he said as he walked backwards through his doorway.

"Goodnight," replied Katara as they both closed their doors.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"_Why_ aren't you up yet?"

That was the first sound Aang woke to the next day as his firebending sifu stormed into the room. Aang squeezed one eye open and peeked around his room. Sure enough, there was Zuko, standing angrily at the foot of his bed waiting for Aang to say something.

"Aw, Zuko. Can't we take a break for one morning?" yawned Aang as he looked out the window, the moon still visible in the coming dawn.

Apparently, that was _not_ the answer Zuko was looking for as his face turned from angry to scowling.

"You've had a break for three days while I was off with Katara!" yelled Zuko at the uncooperative Avatar.

"Yeah well that's not my fault is it," retorted Aang, finally shaking the sleepiness out of his body. "You were the one who was all, all… _uppity_ about going, even when I said not too!"

"_Uppity_? You know what? I'm not even going to argue with you because this is just pointless. Just get your lazy butt out of bed and meet me out in the courtyard in fifteen minutes," said Zuko, trying to reign in his temper.

Zuko paused as Aang just lay there. "And I mean it!" he yelled as he stormed out of the room.

"Aw monkey feathers!" huffed Aang as he finally started to get out of bed, heeding Zuko's warning.

* * *

An hour and a half later, blasts and explosions could be heard outside, along with the occasional outbursts of threats issuing from Zuko's mouth if Aang didn't stop being lazy and in his words, 'be a man.'

Toph and Katara were the first ones up that morning, other than Aang and Zuko. Toph complained that the explosions were "annoying her feet" and so she couldn't sleep, while Katara got up early on a daily basis to make breakfast for everyone.

Toph strolled out into the courtyard and flopped down on the stone steps, not even bothering to greet the firebenders hard at work.

"Hi Toph!" yelled Aang as soon as he saw her lying in the middle of the steps. He stopped in the middle of his sets and was walking over to her when something caught his arm.

"What are you doing? You were in the middle of a set? Toph obviously had the courtesy to not interrupt us so get back to work!" Zuko was once again angry at Aang. Sighing all the way, Aang went back near the fountain and continued his set under the watchful eyes of the heated firebender.

After being sure that Aang wasn't going to stop again, Zuko went and sat next to Toph on the steps. He was about to thank her for not interrupting their training, but she beat him to the catch.

"You know, the only reason I didn't say anything was because I was just too lazy to make conversation with you two bums, not because I had _courtesy_." Toph sneered that last word as if it was a disgusting and vile quality to be courteous.

"Well thanks anyway," said Zuko, not altogether as shocked as he would have been a week ago. Zuko had come to grasp Toph's personality over the course of him joining the gang. Yes, she was abrasive and blunt, sometimes to the point of rudeness, but Zuko liked her. She was independent and strong and just as funny everyday as Sokka on his best days.

"By the way, I like your Firenation clothes," added Zuko, being truthful but also stating it to see what Toph's answer would be.

All Zuko got by way of response was a _pshhh_ and Toph closed her eyes to take a nap. Zuko smirked.

"Okay Aang," said Zuko five minutes later. "You can stop now. We'll take a break for the rest of the afternoon." Aang whooped and jumped in the air, flying skyward fifteen feet before landing lightly in front of Zuko. He looked up at him expectantly.

"Uh, good job then?" That seemed to be the correct response as Aang beamed at Zuko and went to sit on the edge of the fountain, grabbing a towel once he got there.

Just then, Katara walked out of the house, carrying a giant pot, while at the same time trying to balance four bowls and spoons on top. Despite this possibly dangerous situation, Katara beamed at Zuko and Aang.

"Good morning Zuko, Aa—whoa!" she yelled as she stumbled over a crack in the stone courtyard.

Zuko quickly got up from his step and grabbed the bottom of the pot for her as she straightened up.

"You okay?" asked Zuko as both he and Katara carried the pot down to the center of the courtyard.

"Yeah," Katara said, blushing slightly at her blunder. "I guess it was heavier than I thought." Zuko and Katara gently lowered the cooking pot to the ground as Katara grabbed the four bowls and spoons. "Thanks," she said. "And on that note," began Katara as she knelt down by the pot, "breakfast is served!"

Katara divvied up the meal into four bowls as Aang and Toph walked down to where Zuko and Katara knelt by the fountain.

"Where's Snoozles and Fanny?" asked Toph, nodding her head in Katara's general direction as she was handed a bowl of food and a spoon.

"In town, eating," replied Katara as she handed bowls to Aang and Zuko. "They decided to take a look around town and of course, Sokka couldn't wait to find some new Firenation foods to eat," Katara added with a smile at her silly brother's seemingly endless stomach.

As Katara started filling up her own bowl, she noticed Zuko staring at her from the corner of her eye. "What's wrong?" she mumbled. "Is there something on my face? My skirt?" Katara quickly started rubbing her nose and face, while simultaneously looking at her outfit for any stains or food.

"No," began Zuko. The truth was that he had just noticed Katara's Firenation 'disguise.' He hadn't noticed too much before with the giant pot she was holding but now… well he thought she looked great.

"I, um, I just realized… I mean you look goo—… I mean not that you don't always look good, but you look…nice in red," stumbled Zuko as he pointed to her outfit.

"Oh!" said Katara, startled. She looked up at his wary gold eyes. "Thanks," she mumbled, slightly blushing.

"Ughhh!" groaned Toph as she fell onto her back, obviously annoyed at the whole conversation. "Let's talk about something interesting Aang, seeing as these two here want to talk _fashion_."

Aang laughed. "Katara does look good though," replied Aang, smiling at Katara. She smiled back. "But okay, what do you want to talk about?" he continued.

Before Toph could get in what exactly she wanted to talk about, Sokka and Suki appeared at the back of the beach house, both in their Firenation clothing.

"You guys are not going to believe this," began Sokka, looking as though he'd just won a year's supply of fireflakes. "There's a play about us!"

"We were just in town and we found this poster," added Suki. She, too, was surprisingly very excited about the prospect.

Sokka whipped the poster out from behind his back, and sure enough, it was an advertisement for _The Boy in the Iceberg_. There on the poster was an illustration of Zuko's face in the background, along with illustrations of Katara, Aang, and Sokka in the foreground in which Sokka was _much_ more muscular in the poster than in real life.

Sokka spun around, showing everyone the poster, even Toph as she rolled her eyes and huffed, "When is he going to realize that I'm _blind_."

When Sokka got around to Katara, she looked from the poster, back to Sokka, back to the poster. "What? How is that possible?" she asked, completely bewildered by the mere idea of it all.

Sokka took the poster back and began to read from it. "Listen to this: '_The Boy in the Iceberg_ is a new production from the acclaimed playwright Pu On Tim who scoured the globe gathering information on the Avatar from the icy South Pole to the heart of Ba Sing Se. His sources include singing nomads, pirates, prisoners of war, and a surprisingly knowledgeable merchant of cabbage'."

Suki leaned in to read the rest, "'Brought to you by the critically acclaimed Ember Island Players'."

As soon as Suki had read the last line, Zuko groaned and rested his head in his hands. Everyone looked questioningly at him as he finally looked up.

"My mother used to take us to see them. They butchered _Love Amongst the Dragons_ every year…" he explained.

Katara turned her gaze from Zuko back to her brother as she thought about what he was saying. _This is crazy!_ she thought. "Sokka," she began seriously, "do you really think it's a good idea to attend a play about ourselves?" Sokka, and Suki for that matter, definitely weren't thinking straight.

"I'm with Katara," said Zuko. "It's too risky, plus it'll be a terrible play. Trust me." Zuko shuddered. Obviously plays were not Zuko's thing.

Sokka wasn't taking no for an answer, however. "Come on! A day at the theatre! This is the kind of wacky, time wasting nonsense I've been missing!" he replied grinning at Zuko and Katara as they silently tried to communicate with one another about what to do. Finally, Katara tore her gaze away from Zuko's pleading eyes and looked to where Toph and Aang were sitting.

"Well?" she asked. "What do you guys think?"

"You know I'm all for it," replied Toph as she stood up, moving next to Suki and Sokka. "I'm getting bored cooped up in this house!" Sokka grinned and patted her shoulder.

"Alright! What about you Aang?" questioned Sokka. He put on his best puppy dog face, complete with giant eyes and pouting lips. "Pleaseeeee?" he whined.

Aang looked from Sokka to Katara and Zuko. "Well…" he began, scratching his head uncomfortably. "I kind of want to see it… I'll be really careful Katara. I promise," he added after seeing the disappointment and uncertainty on Katara's face.

Katara and Zuko looked at one another, then finally looked up. "Fine," they replied, albeit not too thrilled about the idea. "I guess we're outnumbered," reasoned Zuko to Katara as he took the scroll from Sokka and began to read. Katara sat back down next to him as they both took in the poster.

Zuko suddenly mumbled something unintelligible to Katara as his face screwed up in annoyance. Katara giggled and pointed at the poster.

"What is it?" asked Aang, noticing their exchange.

Katara continued to laugh at Zuko's pouty behavior as Zuko looked up from the poster to address the waiting group.

"My scar's on the wrong side."

* * *

After Sokka had eaten (it was the breakfast Katara made and his _second_ breakfast of the day), everyone went off on their own for the day. The two non-benders went down to cliffs by the beach a mile off to supposedly 'spar' except, as Aang innocently pointed out to Zuko, Katara, and Toph, that Suki didn't bring her fans and Sokka didn't bring his sword.

"Don't worry about it Aang," smirked Toph as she led Aang back into the beach house courtyard to practice their earthbending. "You'll learn soon enough." Toph looked back to where Katara was standing and winked. Katara glared at her angrily and somewhat repulsed, and then realized that Toph couldn't actually see her warning.

"Ugh," shivered Zuko, apparently oblivious to Toph's jab at Katara. "I don't even wanna think of that mental image of Sokka and Suki."

Katara laughed. "Please just stop talking Zuko. That's my brother and it's seriously creeping me out."

Zuko grinned back at her. "I see your point," he said as he began to pick up some dirty dishes. "I'll stop."

"What are you doing?" asked Katara as he began to stand up and walk to the kitchen. Zuko looked back, confused. "Uh, bringing dishes inside? Do you want them left out here or something?"

"No," replied Katara as she took hold of the, now thankfully much lighter, pot. "It's just that you've never helped with the dishes before or anything." Zuko looked at her as they walked into the house.

"Not that I'm complaining!" she added they sat the dirty pot and dishes in the sink.

"Well," began Zuko as he started to fill the sink with water, "I figured that I can kinda actually help you out now."

Katara looked confused. "See," said Zuko, uncomfortable at where the conversation was going, "now you won't think that I'm, like, poisoning the dishes or something." He smiled sheepishly down at her as he turned off the faucet.

"Well, I guess that _is_ true," Katara admitted as they leaned against the counter, "Well, it's really thoughtful Zuko. Thanks." She nudged his shoulder with her own.

"Actually," she started, "I think I'm just more surprised that you know how to wash dishes more than anything," she laughed. "I thought being a prince meant that you got to skip all the annoying chores that came with being a kid."

"Well, yeah, I did," Zuko hesitated. "But when my uncle and I were hiding out in Ba Sing Se, we worked at a tea shop and I spent _a lot_ of quality time with the kitchen sink." Zuko grimaced at the memory of his constant dishpan hands.

"I wish I could have seen that!" laughed Katara and Zuko joined in. It wasn't often that Zuko actually genuinely laughed, but it seemed as if Katara's laughter was contagious, just like her smile.

Katara nudged Zuko over with her shoulder again. "I'll wash, you dry."

* * *

­­­­­­­With Katara's waterbending and Zuko's firebending, they got the dishes done in about half the time it usually took herself and Suki to do them. With their free time, Katara and Zuko decided to get in a little sparring session on the beach before lunch, which went surprisingly well. Katara and Zuko were relatively evenly matched on the sand, but with the whole ocean at her fingertips, Katara eventually got the upper hand and soon enough, had Zuko sprawled on the wet sand gasping for air.

"Okay, okay! You win!" Zuko gasped as he lay there in his beach wear, staring straight up into the glaring sun that came with afternoon. Katara came trotting over to where Zuko lay and offered her hand.

"Sorry about that," she said as she reached out her hand. "Got a little carried away there I guess. Plus I suppose it wasn't all that fair," Katara added.

"You know what?" asked Zuko with a contemplative expression as he was just about up. He was still grasping Katara's hand. "It wasn't."

Suddenly Katara felt herself being pulled into the sand as Zuko quickly let go of her hand and scrambled back to his feet, running to the front steps of his vacation home.

"Now it's fair!" she heard him yell as he ran through the front door.

After getting over the shock of being tossed into the sand, Katara swiftly pulled herself up and ran after him. That was playing dirty, and Katara wasn't going down that easily.

She ran from the beach, up the stone steps and into the house, all with water whip at hand, while calling out Zuko's name.

"Zuko! Where are you?" as she passed the living room, Aang was lounging on the floor, feeding Momo some leechi nuts from a bowl. Aang raised an eyebrow at her as she passed, but she silenced him with a nod of her head and one finger pressed tight against her lips.

Aang smirked from his seat on the floor and went back to tossing nuts up in the air, trying to get Momo to catch them in his mouth mid-flight.

"Zuko?" she called more quietly as she went out the backdoor and into the stone courtyard. "I thought a Firenation prince wouldn't be scared of a little Watertribe girl?"

She said this just as she was passing through the entranceway and suddenly, a shadow jumped out from the doorway and grabbed her hands. The shadow spun her hands around so that the water she was currently holding suddenly splashed to the ground as her hands were jerked behind her back.

"Truce?" came a voice from over her shoulder. She tried to angle her head up and back to see the speaker's face, but all she got a glimpse of was a pale chest.

"Ugh, come on Zuko," she huffed in defeat. "Fine, fine."

Zuko still didn't let go of his grip of her wrists from behind. "Fine, what?" he asked. Katara could just hear the smile in his voice.

She suddenly went rigid, as if saying she had been overpowered was hard for her. "Fine, you won this round oh mighty Zuko! You were better than me for once! Was that enough?"

Zuko leaned over her and smirked in her face. "Yes."

"Whoa, whoa! What are you doing to my little sister?" came a voice from the forest. Zuko quickly let go of Katara's hands and turned to the right.

"_Sparring_ Sokka," huffed Katara as Sokka and Suki appeared on the courtyard's stone steps. "I should be asking you the same question, actually," retorted Katara with a smug look on her face and her hands resting on her hips.

Zuko let out a bark of laughter and looked to see Suki's face turning the same shade as her outfit, while Sokka confidently said, "Sparring. Duh."

"Oh really then?" came a voice from the shadow of the house as Toph, Aang, and Momo suddenly appeared in the sunshine. "How come I have these then?" Toph brought her hands out from behind her back carrying. In her left was Sokka's meteor sword and in her right were Suki's Kyoshi fans.

Sokka blanched. "Well, uh," he began stuttering as Suki's face became even redder. "We were, uh, you know, training in… hand to hand combat!" Sokka finished with a flourish of his hands and he became confident in his answer once again.

"Cool Sokka!" yelled Aang. "You and Suki have to teach me some of the stuff you did!"

Toph sniggered as Zuko rolled his eyes and Katara had a violent coughing fit to cover her laughter.

"Okay guys!" Katara said as she got a hold of herself. "Let's eat lunch and then we have lots of cleaning to do!"

"But I thought Toph finished all that!" was the last thing that was heard from Sokka's mouth as the Gaang filed into the house.

* * *

After lunch, despite Toph's quick work of the debris and dust in the bedrooms, there still was a lot of cleaning that needed to be done. Broken furniture and wood needed to be brought outside. Sokka chopped up the usable timber into firewood and left it in a pile outside the front door.

Sheets and cushions needed to be aired out (with help from Aang of course) and the wooden floors needed to be scrubbed down. With Katara's waterbending, the floors only took about an hour. Zuko dried them as she moved on to the next rooms. Suki was in the kitchen busily organizing food and cooking supplies in the pantry, while Toph, unsurprisingly, was nowhere to be found.

Finally, an hour before dusk, the house was in the same condition it had been in so many years before when Ozai and his family had enjoyed the summers as a family.

"Finally!" replied Sokka as he flopped on the ground, arms and legs stretched out. He looked if he had just fought a battle against ten platypus-bears. Suddenly, Sokka sat up straight, as if all his strength had suddenly been revived, and yelled, "Play time!"

"Ugh," groaned Zuko and Katara as Zuko face palmed his forehead. Sokka, Aang, and the suddenly reappeared Toph, however, grinned wide and everyone went upstairs to get ready.

As everyone reappeared out of their rooms, Zuko complete with a hooded cloak and his bangs flattened across his scar, Sokka led the way out of the house, skipping more than actually walking.

"Oh Aang, I almost forgot," replied Sokka as he reached into his bag and pulled out a hat. He plopped it onto Aang's bald head and replied, "Voila!" Aang reached up to grab it off his head to examine it, then put it back on.

"Sokka? Is that Dock's hat?" asked Katara as she too examined it.

"Hmmm…" replied Sokka as he got a closer look at it. "I guess it is!" Katara looked at Sokka expectantly, waiting for more of an answer. Sokka, however, continued on skipping down the beach.

Aang gave Katara a goofy smile and Katara grinned back. Her smile quickly faded, however, as she thought of the play. She just had this feeling that going to this play was going to end up being a terrible idea.

**A/N: Ok, I just wanted to tell you guys that the rest of the story updates will NOT be as fast as this, lol. I just couldn't seem to stop writing, so yeah. And thanks to zukoxluver for being the first one to review! All the reviews mean a lot to me.**

**PS: I love writing Sokka and Toph's dialogue =P  
**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Okay, I just wanna give a shout out to my awesome beta ZutaraFan4! And tell you guys that my story does partly follow the canon storyline of Ember Island Players, but of course, with some big differences, which you'll see next chapter! Thanks! R&R!**

**Chapter 3**

The moon was already high in the sky by the time the gang arrived at the Ember Island Theatre. The building was a large structure, red of course, with two stories, one for regular seating, and a second level for balcony and booth seating. Wrapped around both levels of the theatre were balconies overlooking the ocean and wooded areas of the island. The showpieces of the building, however, were the two golden dragons flanking the building just outside the double door entrance. As the gang approached the brightly lit building, they could already see a line stretched outside, down the stone steps, of about thirty anxiously waiting people.

"Ugh!" cried Zuko as he noticed the line for tickets. "How can so many people actually want to _pay_ to see these terrible actors? I'm serious, guys. We should just get out of here while we still have the chance." Zuko ended his sentiment by trying, for the umpteenth time, to flatten his bangs permanently over his left eye.

"Maybe Zuko's right…" agreed Katara as she looked around at all the people. "There's a lot of people here. Even if one person recognizes Aang or Zuko, or any of us for that matter, we're toast." Katara clutched a piece of her hair as her eyes warily scanned the crowd.

"Nah… come on sis!" replied Sokka as he slung his arm around his sister's shoulders. "Me and Suki were just in town this morning and no one said a thing!"

"Yeah Katara," agreed Toph from where she was standing, her back to the group. "Stop being such a wet blanket and have _fun_ for once." Toph humphed and sat down on the nearest rock.

"I am _not_ a wet blanket," Katara scoffed at the toe-picking earthbender. "And besides, the last time that we attempted to 'have fun,' we ended up in jail!"

Toph rolled her unseeing eyes. "That was because we were doing something _illegal,_ Katara," Toph replied as if talking to a child. "Last time I checked, seeing a play was _not_ illegal."

"Wait," interjected Zuko. "You guys did something illegal enough to get you in jail?" He was very intrigued by this. Although he and Katara did just recently break into a Fire Navy communication tower, he thought _that _Katara was just a one time deal, brought on by her rage over her mother's death which was directed at him. However, to find out that she had participated in other illegal activities before was very fascinating to him. To be honest, almost everything Katara did was becoming fascinating to Zuko.

As Zuko asked this, Katara turned red, whether from anger or shame, Katara herself didn't know, but she responded to his question anyway. "Yes," she muttered sharply as she looked at him. "But it was this," she piercingly pointed her finger towards the lazing Toph, "one's scheme, not mine."

"Okay, okay," cut in Sokka, unhappy that the conversation was leading away from the sure to be awesome, at least in his opinion, play. "We get it. Katara's a badass. Can we get in line for tickets now? I don't want to take the chance that they'll sell out!" Suki quickly took the moneybag out of the impatient Sokka's bag and told the group to wait for her inside.

"I'm the least likely person to be recognized as being in cahoots with the Avatar, so I'll buy seven tickets for the bunch of us, okay?" she asked as she began walking away towards the growing line of people.

"Oh, and Sokka!" she called out as she turned her head back. "Buy some pre-play snacks with that." Suki threw a gold piece over her shoulder and Sokka caught it, grinning.

"Come on, guys!" responded Sokka enthusiastically as he fingered the gold piece. "I hope the jerky and fireflakes haven't sold out yet." Toph and Aang hurriedly caught up with Sokka as he scrambled inside to the snack bar while Zuko rolled his eyes and Katara smiled knowingly, despite her head shaking from side to side in a disapproving manner.

As soon as everyone was satisfied with their snacks, and consequently Sokka already stuffing his face, the group went out onto a lower balcony where it was cooler and there were no people.

Although Zuko was always conscious of his scar, tonight he was extra careful, constantly pulling his hood further over his head and shaking his bangs in front of his face. "Zuko," Katara reprimanded. "No one's out here, you can stop with the freaking out. Take off your hood so we can all see your handsome face!" Zuko blushed as Katara reached out and pulled down his hood.

Toph sighed and Katara added, "Oh, right. Sorry, Toph," as she realized that, once again, Toph couldn't actually see.

"Hey, Katara!" called Aang from the balcony railing he was sitting on. Katara looked up and saw Aang with a bag of fireflakes in left hand, and his right hand flying at full speed as he stuffed them into his face. "Watch 'ow many I 'an s'uff in ma 'outh!" Sokka looked on with envy as Aang continued to stuff fireflakes in his mouth, while Zuko, Katara, and Toph, mostly because she couldn't even _see_ what he was doing, ignored the gross display of talent as best as they could.

"Great, Aang," encouraged Katara with a grimace trying to become a smile on her face. "Um, could you turn the other way while you do that though?" Although Aang was mature in most aspects, he could act like such a little kid sometimes, a quality that Katara did not really like.

Thankfully, in Katara's opinion anyway, Suki walked out onto the balcony just as Aang was up to "twen'y-fou' 'ieces!"

"Hey guys! I got the tick—," Suki stopped mid-sentence as she stared at airbender bulging at the cheeks. "—ets," she finished lamely as she eventually tore her eyes away from the unpleasant site. "They're, um, balcony seats so we'll be less conspicuous," she added.

Suki handed everyone their tickets as the group went back out in the lavish main lobby and had their tickets checked. They walked up the right staircase, and entered their balcony seats.

"Sweet!" exclaimed Sokka as he and Suki filed in after the rest of the gang. Both sat down on the second tier of seats as Toph, Katara, and Aang walked to the first row from the left and Zuko from the right. As Toph and Katara sat down, Aang confidently strode up next to Katara. Suddenly, Aang's path was blocked by a tall, hooded figure as he was slightly nudged aside.

Katara looked up at Zuko as he sat down and she sarcastically muttered, "Don't worry. I'll shield your eyes if you can't take it." Zuko laughed shortly and suddenly noticed a capped figure staring at him.

"Hey, uh, I wanted to sit there." Aang pointed to Zuko's spot.

Zuko lowered his hood and looked back at Aang with one eyebrow raised. "Just sit next to me. What's the big deal?" Despite his question, Zuko already had a strong inkling of why he wanted to sit there.

Katara watched the commotion and decided to interject. "Just sit over there Aang. It doesn't matter." She knew somewhat about how Aang felt about her. But sometimes, she just couldn't deal with his clingy behavior. "Besides," she suddenly smirked, "I think Zuko needs the moral support from me right now. From what I've seen, Zuko might throw himself over the balcony before the play even starts."

"Ha ha," replied Zuko dryly as Aang continued to stare open-mouthed at Katara and Zuko.

"I was just…" Aang continued. "…I wanted to… Okay," he finally gave up and slumped down on the opposite side of Zuko, not nearly excited as he was before about the play.

Suddenly, the lights began turning down as Toph started to complain. "Why are we in the nosebleed section? My feet can't see a thing from up here!"

"Don't worry," replied Katara. "I'll tell your feet what's happening."

The lights were almost all down as Katara felt Zuko stiffen next to her and let out an exasperated sigh. She grabbed his arm and said, "But really, Zuko. Don't even think about jumping. Unless you take me with you that is," she added as Zuko smiled back at her.

"Seriously, Zuko," came Sokka's whispering voice from behind as he grabbed Zuko's shoulder. "If you jump, it'll be sure to call attention to us," he nodded seriously.

"Thanks, Sokka," Zuko whispered back. "I'm glad that if I threw myself over a balcony, your first concern would be your own hide." Suki giggled as the people in the next box over shushed the whispering gang.

And thus, _The Boy in the Iceberg_ began. The red curtains drew up and a set of the South Pole appeared, complete with cut-out water and a wooden canoe. Sitting in the canoe were the actors of Sokka and Katara, though not at all in likeness. Sokka gripped Katara's shoulder from behind and motioned back and forth from the actors to themselves as Katara, despite herself, nodded excitedly.

"Sokka, my only brother," began the actress dramatically. "We constantly roam these icy South Pole seas and yet never do we find anything… fulfilling."

"All I want is a full feeling in my stomach! I'm starving!" replied Sokka's actor, earning a laugh from the crowd.

Katara and Sokka looked at each other in disbelief as Zuko sighed and cradled his head in his arms, muttering something that sounded very much like 'kill me.'

"Is food the only thing on your mind?" continued actress-Katara. "Well, I'm trying to get it out of my mind and into my mouth." Actor-Sokka pointed into his mouth. "I'm starving!" Once again the crowd laughed and Sokka complained that his jokes were 'way funnier' than his counterpart onstage.

The play continued on in this same manner, displaying Katara as a melodramatic cry-baby who talked about 'hope' all the time and Sokka as a stand-up food comedian in training. Finally, the actors got to the part where Aang was unfrozen from his iceberg (with an anticlimactic "waterbend, hi-ya!" from Katara).

Aang braced himself against the balcony railing as he looked on in anticipation while Zuko just looked bored. Suddenly, an actor jumped out from within the mist on the stage and landed gracefully in between the Watertribe actors.

"I'm the Avatar! Here to spread joy and fun!" was the high-pitched voice that came out of Aang's actor. He winked at the audience and pirouetted in spot.

"Wait… is that a _woman_ playing me?" came the squeaky response from Aang as he realized the _he_ was actually a _she_.

Suddenly, the box was full of laughter as Aang stared at his actress in humiliation. "Did I mention I'm an incurable prankster?" came the next line out of her mouth as she crossed her legs in a very ladylike manner.

Aang was very irritated and embarrassed. "I don't do that!" he denied. "And…I'm NOT a woman!"

Although Toph couldn't actually see what was going on, she seemed to be the one enjoying Aang's discomfort the most. "Oh, they nailed you, Twinkletoes!" she laughed as she put her arms behind her head.

Eventually, actor-Zuko (complete with scar on the wrong side) and Uncle Iroh were introduced. Iroh seemed to be pretty in sync with Zuko's real life uncle, while Zuko on the other hand, had a more whiney and demanding attitude than the real Zuko.

"Ugh!" came the reply from an annoyed Zuko. "They make me look totally stiff and humorless."

"Well, it seems really realistic to me," huffed Aang as he sat crouching in his seat. He was still upset about the whole _girl_ thing and wasn't in a good mood. Zuko scowled at him as he tried to ignore the play.

It continued on however, next, with Suki's introduction, in which Sokka's butt looked big in the Kyoshi uniforms, as the actor so helpfully pointed out. Sokka blushed at this and King Bumi was introduced, very realistically in fact.

Suddenly the scenery shifted and a giant pirate ship could be seen painted on the backdrop fabric. The lights began to dim as actress-Katara walked out on stage. She began to waterbend, which really just consisted of her waving around blue ribbons. The giant stolen waterbending scroll was open in front of her as she twirled around in a most ungraceful and unbecoming fashion. Suddenly, a snapping sound was heard, as the actress spoke, most dramatically, "What was that sound? I hope it isn't any pirates or firebenders."

Zuko and Katara peeked at each other out of the corner of their eyes as they knew what was about to come. A scarred pirate appeared from offstage as the actress fluttered her ribbons at him and he soon fell with a rather large _thud_ in the middle of the stage. Meanwhile, actor-Zuko appeared from offstage to the right as actress-Katara backed away, straight into Zuko.

"I'll save you from the pirates," came the actor's voice as he grabbed her wrists and spun her to face him.

Zuko and Katara blushed from their seats as the audience whooped at Katara's capture.

"Sorry," mumbled Zuko as he recalled that memory. Although he remembered, vividly in fact, tying Katara up, he felt as if that Zuko was a completely different person than the one sitting next to the waterbender today.

As the scene went on, Zuko and Katara noticed it was much more… 'come-hither,' than they realized at the time.

"Now," started actor-Zuko as the continuously crying Katara was finally tied up to tree. "I need my honor back! Tell me where the Avatar is and maybe I'll give you a special surprise," he taunted, whispering into her ear. Suddenly, a sparkling necklace appeared out of Zuko's pocket as he showed it to Katara's widening eyes.

Aang looked on at the actors with shock written on his face. Before he could question Zuko on his actions, Sokka beat him to the punch.

"Are… are you…_seducing_ my sister?!" he loudly whispered over Zuko's shoulder as Katara and Zuko turned their beet red faces towards him. There was a pause as Zuko tried to come up with the words that wouldn't make him sound like a creep.

"Oh, Prince Zuko!" actress-Katara started up again as Zuko paused to think of his answer. "It's…it's so beautiful!" She, once again, began to weep in earnest. "The Avatar and my brother are just over there," she divulged as Zuko placed the necklace around her neck.

"Is that how they found us?!" Sokka whispered loudly again as he looked back from the stage to Katara.

Katara turned and saw Toph smirking to her right, Suki looking mildly curious at the scene, Sokka with his mouth agape, and Aang with an angry scowl.

"Guys, I swear that's not what happened," Katara hastily said as she looked around at her companions. "Zuko was just…" Katara looked to her right and saw Zuko with his hood back over his head trying to ignore the whole situation.

"Let's just watch the play guys," interjected Suki as she saw a confrontation about to occur between Katara, Zuko, Aang, and Sokka.

"But—" started Sokka with his finger raised. Suki shushed him with her finger against his lips and pushed him lightly backwards so his back was once again resting against the bench.

Luckily, by the time their discussion was over, the scene was too. The backdrop had changed from blue to red and actress-Aang could be seen tied up between two giant golden dragons as Zuko and numerous Firenation soldiers stood guard over him.

"My hero!" yelled actress-Aang as the 'Blue Spirit' suddenly appeared from offstage and fought off Zuko and all the guards. She jumped on top of his massive tiki mask and together, they ran offstage. If possible, Zuko and Aang became even more uncomfortable than they already were with the play and the girls giggled at the implication of a 'romance' between girl-Aang and the Blue Spirit. Aang and Zuko grimaced and Aang slunk down further into his seat.

Finally came the scene where Katara and Jet had their 'moment' and Zuko subsequently exclaimed, "You actually _liked_ that jerk?!" Katara suddenly became very interested in her split ends as Toph cackled like she knew something too good to be true. Eventually, the acting-Gaang finally flew over the Great Divide; Sokka and Yue had their good-bye scene to which Sokka began crying as Toph told him to, "grow up and be a man!"; and the giant Ocean Spirit-Aang defeated the Fire Navy at the North Pole.

As actress-Aang tripped over her own feet and fell in her costume, the curtains finally drew closed and the rest of the crowd, including Toph, began to cheer wildly. The rest of the gang however just sat there in shock as Sokka face-palmed his forehead and Aang groaned, flinging his body downwards into his seat.

"Hey!" started Katara as she spoke to Aang and Sokka. "You two were the ones who were most excited to see the play in the first place! So don't complain, because this is all your fault," Katara sulked.

With Aang and Sokka unable to think of any good response to that, Katara got up and began walking out of the theatre. Zuko soon followed suit, along with everyone else as Aang had to drag Toph out because she was still clapping and yelling, "Bravo! Bravo!" to the drawn curtain.

Katara led the way back out onto a balcony and sat down with a huff on the top step. Zuko sat down next to her and grabbed a piece of jerky from Sokka's hand as he passed them with Suki. Aang came in last, still dragging the uncooperative Toph and they leaned against the stair railings.

"So far, this intermission is the best part of the play," began Zuko to Katara as he bit down on his jerky. Katara was toying with a loose thread on her skirt angrily.

"You know what?" began Katara suddenly as she looked at Zuko's close face. "We should just leave now; say we're going to get something to eat and then just sneak off as intermission ends." Zuko looked into her bright blue eyes shining with excitement as he grinned back in agreement.

"Oh no you don't!" yelled Toph from the railing. She had heard them whispering with her sensitive hearing. "You guys have to watch the rest of the play! This writer's a genius! Plus," she added, "I haven't even been introduced yet! You guys aren't going to seriously bail on me are you?"

Katara looked guilty as Zuko scratched the back of his head. "Okay, okay," agreed Katara, albeit reluctantly as she sighed and slumped forward, leaning her body and face into her arms. Zuko patted her back a few times as Aang and Toph began talking about how Aang really was "more in touch with his feminine side than most guys." Aang, of course, denied this vehemently by stomping his feet in a very mature fashion.

Zuko looked over to his right and saw Sokka begin explaining to a very amused Suki that he had lots of good jokes other than meat ones and began to list them, one by one, on his fingers. Seeing that everyone was absorbed in their own conversations, Zuko asked Katara the one question he had been dying to ask.

"Did you _really_ go out with Jet after he flooded a town for you?" Zuko didn't really know why he was so interested, but his stomach made an uncomfortable flip as Katara snapped her head back out of her arms.

"No, I did _not_," she said angrily. Zuko visibly relaxed. "Jet was a huge jerk back then." She looked up as if that settled the matter. "Wait," she added. "How did _you_ know Jet?"

"Well," began Zuko uncomfortably, "I… sort of… helped him steal food from a… a captain on a refugee boat into Ba Sing Se, and then, he tried to get me join his group… the Freedom Fighters, I think he called it." Katara nodded and Zuko laughed. "Could you really see _me_ fighting along side with Jet?" Katara thought of that mental image, and didn't think it would look half bad, but of course didn't mention this to the handsome Fire Prince.

"Anyway," he continued, "then he happened to glimpse my uncle firebend his tea to make it a little warmer, you know, and all of a sudden, we were mortal enemies."

"That sounds like Jet," Katara scoffed as Zuko began to speak again.

"Yeah, so then he started a fight with me in the middle of a teashop and street, trying to get me to firebend."

Katara gasped. "What happened?" she whispered as she covered her mouth with her hands. Zuko smirked. "Well, I had my broadswords with me and so I beat him that way," he ended cockily.

"Boys will be boys, I guess," she sighed and Zuko grinned and nudged her shoulder. Despite herself, Katara smiled.

"Listen, guys," suddenly came Toph's loud voice as Aang and Sokka were now glaring angrily down at her tiny frame. "It's obvious that the playwright did his research. I know it must hurt, but what you're seeing up there on that stage is the truth."

She turned her body in Zuko and Katara's general direction and winked as Aang and Sokka began arguing with her once more. Zuko and Katara refused to meet each other's eyes in fear of the other seeing each other's their blush.

"Calm down, sweetie," placated Suki as she got up from her step and went to drag Sokka away from the petite earthbender. "You too, Aang," she called over her shoulder as she marched Sokka up the stairs. "I think intermission is almost over anyway," she called as she peeked through the red curtain separating the balcony from the lobby.

The gang reluctantly, besides Toph and Suki, trudged back to their seats and awaited the second round of hell.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

As the groups of teens finally settled themselves back into their seats, the lights began to dim once more and a resounding "ungghhh" was heard from the majority of the group as Toph shushed them with a stomp of her feet that shook the entire box.

The curtains were raised and the backdrop now resembled an Earth Kingdom town, complete with painted yellow and green houses and a giant cardboard boulder that sat in the middle of the stage.

"I flew all over town, but I couldn't find a single earthbending master!" shouted Aang after she flew over the audience on a rope and pulley system. Actor-Sokka and actress-Katara looked stunned and horrified at the news.

Toph stood up from her seat. "This must be where I come in!" she practically squealed as she leaned closer to the balcony railing to hear the actors better. Toph was so excited that Katara had to physically pull her away from the railing so that she wouldn't be dangling half over the edge of the gallery.

"You can't find an earthbending master in the sky," echoed a deep, booming voice from somewhere unidentifiable around the stage. "You have to look underground." The faux boulder in the middle of the stage suddenly lifted up. A colossal man rose out from underneath the stage, dressed in almost an exact replica of Toph's earthbending outfit, complete with her signature poof-balls and headband covering his black hair.

The balcony suddenly shook from the laughter that vacated the gang's mouths as Toph's actor began to speak again.

"My name is Toph, because it sounds like tough, and that's just what I am." He pointed manly to his chest.

Up in the balcony, Katara was biting her hand over her mouth to stop from laughing so hard, while Sokka had buried his face in Suki's shoulder to cover up his sniggers and Suki was trying to keep her mouth zipped shut to stop the escaping giggles. Aang had took his hat off and stuffed it in his mouth, trying to stifle his laughter and Zuko's good eye was tearing up as Katara tried to muffle his laughter by putting her hand over his mouth too.

"I sound like a guy!" Toph exclaimed as her face broke into her illustrious grin. "A really _buff_ guy!" she finished as she sat back down on the bench.

Katara, however, didn't see Toph's ecstatic face when she said this, considering that her mind was currently occupied with trying not to think of the feel of Zuko's laughing lips pressed against her left hand. As the gang settled down and, unaware that Toph was more than happy with her portrayal, Katara tried to make fun of Toph.

"Well, Toph," she managed to get out between giggles. "What you hear up there is the truth. It hurts, doesn't it?" she finished as she cocked her head to the side with a knowing expression.

Katara's smirk suddenly faded as Toph responded in earnest. "Are you kidding me?! I wouldn't have cast it any other way!" She leaned around Katara, speaking to Aang. "At least it's not a flying bald lady."

Aang immediately stopped laughing and, once again, slunk down in his seat, irritated.

"So you're blind?" asked actress-Aang from the stage as actor-Toph laughed.

"I can see everything that you see," he explained, "except that I don't see like you do. I release a sonic wave from my mouth."

Suddenly, the actor turned and faced Katara, Sokka, and Aang and screamed. The gang in the box cringed and covered their ears, along with the rest of the audience, as the screaming went on. Toph, however, seemed to be so pleased with her depiction that she was, therefore, immune to the terrible screeching issuing from her counterpart onstage.

To the immense relief of the teenagers, the screeching finally subsided as actor-Toph paused. "There," he suddenly stated. "I got a pretty good look at you."

The audience, along with Toph, began cheering and clapping for buff-Toph. Zuko just looked at Aang questioningly as he shrugged his shoulders and raised his eyebrow in an 'I don't know' expression.

The performance went on, eventually and Zuko and Iroh once again stood center stage. As they talked, the playwright seemed to be implying that Zuko and his uncle split up over Zuko's hairdo.

"Really, though," giggled Katara at the hilarity that Zuko would leave his uncle because Iroh didn't like his hair, "I'm glad you cut your hair." She ruffled his hair playfully as Zuko attempted not to blush. "You look much more handsome this way." As she smiled down at the play, she suddenly realized what she had just said and quickly withdrew her hand from Zuko's head, but not before Aang had caught what transpired.

Next, came the scenes where the gang, and Zuko, had corned Azula and she had mysteriously vanished, along with the day when Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee had almost drilled through the outer wall of Ba Sing Se. Even Toph could admit that now, the play was getting a little boring. Toph yawned and Sokka fell asleep on Suki's shoulder as girl-Aang continued to pelt the pointy-shoed Azula with foam rocks.

Finally, the scene ended and the stagehands switched the scenery from the yellows of the desert outside of the city, to eerie metallic green walls and green crystals, classic of Ba Sing Se. Jet abruptly leapt on stage, waving his arms around in a dazed manner and then suddenly stopped and squatted in place like an ape, completely devoid of any facial expression. Beneath his mop of hair, a pair of googly-eyed glasses could be seen, making Jet look crazed and demented.

"No, Jet! What did they do to you?" demanded actress-Aang as she looked out at the audience in horror. Actor-Jet began swinging his arms violently again, as a hollowed out rock floated down from above the stage. Aang looked on at the scene in despondency. How clearly he remembered the fight against Long Feng under Lake Laogai. He just wished that he could have found out what happened to Longshot and Smellerbee afterwards.

As he thought this, Jet fell to the wooden floor with an anguished cry and crawled under the hollowed rock. Zuko looked on at the scene in confusion as Katara slumped backwards. "Did…did Jet just… die?"

"You know," responded Sokka from behind with a wave of his hands. "It was really unclear." Zuko looked to his left for a more reasonable answer as Aang averted his gaze. He then turned to his right and Katara nodded solemnly.

He paused, then against his better judgment and the butterflies beating in his stomach, he squeezed Katara's hand. She looked down at their joined hands and Zuko's flight instinct took hold. He went to pull away. Katara, however, kept their hands clasped as she continued to watch the stage.

Zuko's heart seemed to skip a few beats, but if Katara thought that it was okay, Zuko had no problem with staying in this position for the entirety of the play; he definitely wasn't complaining.

Gradually, the backdrop began to change, but the eerie green light synonymous with Ba Sing Se stayed the same. Instead of metal walls, however, the backdrop was now a mural of brightly growing green crystals — the crystal catacombs of Ba Sing Se.

Katara and Zuko walked on stage as Zuko sat down sulkily on a rock in the middle of the stage. "I have to admit, Prince Zuko," began Katara as she meandered over to sit next to him on the rock. "I really find you attractive."

Zuko and Katara quickly let go of each other's hands, as for the seemingly millionth time that night they blushed bright scarlet. Both wondered what the playwright was going to make of their time alone together in the catacombs if he had already made such a large commotion over the 'necklace' incident.

"You don't have to make fun of me," scoffed actor-Zuko as actress-Katara cringed at the harshness in his voice.

"But I mean it," she continued as she scooted closer to Zuko. By this time, Toph was smirking at how uncomfortable she could feel Sweetness and Sparky were and at how Aang and Sokka were both scowling at Katara and Zuko's heads. "I've had eyes for you since the first day you captured me," she ended sultrily.

Toph couldn't help but let out a little chuckle as she felt their heartbeats start racing double-time, along with Aang's, but his for another reason entirely.

Zuko's actor stood up. "Wait," he said. "I thought you were the Avatar's girl." Aang brightened and nodded his head towards the actor. _Finally,_ he thought. _Someone's getting it right_.

Aang inwardly cringed however as the actress began to laugh. "The Avatar? Why, he's like a little brother to me." She stood up and walked over to where Zuko was standing. "I certainly don't think of him in a romantic way," she laughed as if saying, 'Yeah, right. He wishes.'

Aang biggest fears were coming true. Is that the way she really thought of him? Like a brother… like Sokka? Aang felt like fleeing the theatre, but seemed frozen in place as a sick, morbid part of him needed to see the rest of the encounter.

"Besides," finished Katara as she drew closer and closer to Zuko, "how could he ever find out about… this?" Suddenly, the actors drew all the way together and kissed over dramatically.

Aang couldn't take it any longer as he looked to his left and saw Zuko and Katara, faces currently the color of their outfits, peeking embarrassed glances at one another from the corner of their eyes when they thought the other wasn't paying attention. He hastily got out of his seat and went to flee from the box, his temper flaring dangerously. Sokka, however, didn't seem to notice his urgency to get as far away from the group as possible.

"Oh, you're getting up!" he whispered as Aang passed by him. "Can you get me some fireflakes?" Aang didn't even stop to acknowledge that he had heard. "Oh, and some fire gummies!" he called after him, even though Aang was already out of the theatre and en route to the closest terrace balcony.

Aang practically ran through the building, hitting other play-attendees, his hat almost flying off in the process. He just couldn't be around anyone at the moment. He finally got outside and breathed a sigh of relief. He was starting to calm down slightly just from being outside, but was still so upset and confused. Aang walked over to the balcony railing and looked out at Ember Island Beach. It really was beautiful with the moon shining down, making silvery reflections that danced as the tides moved in a constant motion across the shore. Too bad Aang couldn't enjoy the beauty of it at the moment.

If Aang were asked a few of hours ago, this would be the last thing that he would have expected to come out of the day at the theatre. The irony of the whole situation was that Aang was actually looking forward to watching their past adventures together, watching his past with Katara. But no, _Zuko_ had to ruin everything. Aang slammed his fist down on the wood as he closed his eyes tightly, trying to control his anger.

Katara never elaborated on anything concerning Zuko. She had never told any of them what exactly had happened when Zuko captured her that one night, nor when they spent a whole day together under the palace in Ba Sing Se. She had only given her brother, Toph, and himself the barest minimum of details about Ba Sing Se. All they knew was that Katara had "opened up to him" and Zuko ended up stabbing her in the back.

Aang suddenly realized that Katara was more sensitive over the issue than she should have been, somehow so deeply hurt after Zuko had betrayed her that she couldn't even look at him when he had first joined the group.

_Maybe they had kissed,_ he thought as he recalled the play and winced. Aang remembered when Iroh and himself had come and rescued them both—how close Katara and Zuko were standing.

But why would she kiss Zuko? He was their mortal enemy back then! It was Katara and him who were meant to be together, not her and Zuko. He had kissed Katara too, during the Day of Black Sun! But then again, Aang thought, he didn't stick around very long to see her reaction, so maybe she didn't like it…

_No,_ Aang reprimanded himself. _Katara has known you for much longer than Zuko. She doesn't like him, she likes you, _and_ she liked the kiss._ With that mantra in mind, Aang tried to meditate, using the calming ocean waves to soothe his broken pride.

Aang couldn't contain himself for long, however, as he thought about Zuko and Katara together and began pacing around the balcony. He finally stopped, wondering how long he had been out there, trying and failing to vent his anger, when he heard a curtain rustle and the light, feminine steps of someone who could only be Katara enter the balcony. He continued to stare out at the sea.

"Are you alright?" he heard Katara ask meekly. Aang's anger flared up again the instant he heard her voice.

"No, I'm not," he said angrily as he took his hat and threw it to the ground. "I hate this play," he spoke childishly as Katara came to stand next to him by the railing.

"I know it's upsetting," she began gently, "but I think you're overreacting."

"Overreacting, Katara?" he bit back angrily. "Did me and you not see the same play?" he spoke sarcastically.

"Aang—" began Katara reasoning-ly.

"—Did you really mean what you said out there?" he cut in, ignoring whatever Katara was about to say to calm him down.

Katara looked down at him, confused. "In where? What are you talking about?"

"On stage," he stated, "when you said I was just like a… a _brother_," he sneered the word, "to you; when you said you didn't have any feelings for me, but liked Zuko instead."

"I didn't say that," rebutted Katara. "An actor said that." She folded her arms over her chest and looked out at the ocean, then back at Aang.

"But it's true, isn't it?" he sighed dejectedly as he stared at her pretty face, bleached of color in the moonlight. "We kissed at the invasion and I thought we were gonna be together… but we're not." Katara sighed and unfolded her arms to tug at her hair.

"Aang," she replied pleadingly. "When we kissed—when you kissed me—I just wasn't expecting it," she finished. Aang looked confused, so she continued.

"Since it was a surprise, I… I didn't really have enough time to react." Aang brightened at this. Katara paused. "…to pull back," she finished in almost a whisper.

Aang looked at the worn, wooden floor beneath him sadly. Then, rapidly, his expression turned angry. "It's because of Zuko, isn't it?" Aang spat out as he lifted his head to glower at Katara.

"No! I swear, it had nothing to do with Zuko," she pleaded with him as she saw him getting angrier by the minute.

"Oh really?" he said sarcastically, almost in a laughing tone. "What about all those 'moments' you two had in the play, huh?"

"Aang," Katara said, trying to maintain her level head. Aang's accusatory tone and irritation were beginning to make her temper rise. "…whoever wrote this play, that Pu Wong Tim guy, blew stuff way out of proportion. Zuko and I _never_ kissed in Ba Sing Se, I promise you," her blue eyes so earnest that Aang couldn't help but believe her.

"Then why can't you be with me?" he pleaded, his anger giving way to begging.

"Because…because…" It seemed to Aang as if it were physically hurting Katara to say this. She scrunched up her face and folded her arms tightly to her chest again as she refused meet his gray eyes. "You really _are_ more like a brother to me than anything else." She finally looked up into his heartbroken face. "Like a best friend," she amended as Aang's whole body seemed to shrink in front of her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Aang," she said as Aang refused to meet her gaze. Katara looked back out the balcony railing and sighed as she, too, averted her gaze down to her shoes and shut her eyes. Suddenly, however, her eyes flew open as she felt a pair of lips kiss her own. She looked up to see Aang's face backing away slowly from her own.

Her hands clenched against her sides as she responded angrily, "I just said no, Aang." Katara began to back away from the upset Avatar as she mumbled, "I'm going inside," before practically flying through the doorway.

"Argh!" yelled Aang as he banged his fist against the side of his head. He then battered his head on the railing. "I'm such an idiot!"

Aang eventually picked his hat back up from the floor and dusted it off as he gloomily put it back on his tattooed head. He grudgingly trudged back inside to the lobby and walked as slow as he possibly could back to the theatre.

He saw Katara sitting in the front row as he opened the curtain and decided for everyone's best interests, because he could _not_ sit next to the Fire Prince right now, that he would sit next to Sokka and just have to grin and bear his lovey-dovey-ness with Suki.

"Where are my fireflakes?" asked Sokka as he wrapped his right arm around Suki's shoulders, appalled that Aang had come back with no snacks whatsoever. "And my fire gummies!" he exclaimed as he remembered the second snack Aang was supposed to get for him over half an hour ago.

"Oh, um…they were all out?" replied Aang, in more of question than answer form.

"Ugh… well anyway," responded Sokka, only slightly fazed, "Here's what you missed."

He began to count off the scenes on his fingers. "We went to the Fire Nation and you got better, and Katara was the Painted Lady, and I got a sword and I think Combustion Man died." All of this was said in one breath, and when Sokka was finished, he seemed to be winded.

"The invasion's about to start… shush," Katara said angrily to Sokka, not even bothering to turn her head in his direction. She was still very upset, both sad and angry at the same time, over the whole Aang situation. When Katara had stomped back into the theatre, intermission was just ending and everyone was already seated and chatting. Zuko had asked her if she was okay but she just nodded her head and sat straight forward.

She could only assume that she looked like quite distraught because Zuko kept looking worriedly at her every five seconds and quickly back to the stage as he noticed her noticing him.

Katara didn't know if she wanted to punch something because Aang had kissed her when she explicitly said _no_, or if she wanted to cry over breaking Aang's heart and possibly ruining their friendship in the process. The play certainly didn't help anyone's emotions as actresses-Katara and Aang were suddenly perched atop an invasion submarine.

Katara's actress spoke first. "I just want you to know Aang, that I'll always love you… like a brother." Katara looked ashamedly to her right as she tried to compose herself.

"I wouldn't want it any other way!" replied actress-Aang joyfully as the two shook hands. Aang blushed and pulled his hat down as if hoping to be swallowed up by it.

Aang's actress flew away on her glider and Toph and Sokka appeared on the submarine. As the actor delivered a few classic-Sokka lines, the real Sokka fell into fits of laughter as he managed to get out between bursts of laughter, "I…told him… to… say that!"

The stagehands quickly turned the stage from the blues and greens of the invasion submarines to the reds and golds of the Fire Lord's throne room. "We finally made it to the royal palace, but no one's home!" exclaimed girl-Aang to the gang as she motioned dramatically to the empty throne.

Actor-Zuko then walked onstage and with the addition of shorter hair, although for some odd reason, it was spiked up. In spite of herself, Katara couldn't help but chuckle meekly as she saw Zuko's 'short-hair' look. "Okay," said Katara as she nudged Zuko. "Maybe I was wrong. That short hair _definitely_ doesn't look better."

"Hey!" he responded as he tore his gaze away from Katara's to the stage. "At least I'm joining you guys in this scene. Doesn't that make up for my, uh, spiked hair?" he asked warily.

"Hmmm…" Katara pretended to think, tapping her finger lightly against her chin. "I suppose so…as long as you promise _never_ to cut your hair like, ugh, that."

Zuko nodded and smiled in agreement as Toph sulked, "I wish I could see his stupid hair!" to which Zuko frowned and Katara smiled. Leave it to Toph to get her out of her bad mood.

"Well," began Sokka as he started to stand up, "I guess that's it. I mean, the play's caught up to the present now." As he began to walk away, Suki grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him back down to his seat.

"Wait, the play's not over," she chided as Sokka looked in bewilderment at the stage.

"But it is over!" replied Sokka. "…Unless…" he began mysteriously, "…this is the future!"

"Shut up, Sokka," interjected Toph as she once again, leaned far forwards to hear what was going on down there better. The stage was currently pitch-black except for a spotlight at the front of the stage. As Fire Lord Ozai's actor walked out from the shadows and into the harsh light, it made him seem just as sinister and ominous as the real Fire Lord. The lights gradually came back on and Ozai was could be standing on his throne as Azula was knelt before him on the wooden floor.

"With the energy harnessed from Sozin's Comet, no one will be able to stop the Fire Nation!" said Ozai's actor dramatically as a paper lantern made to look like a comet was dragged across the stage.

"Father," began actress-Azula from her knelt position, "Zuko and the Avatar are at the palace. They're trying to stop you!"

Ozai pointed dramatically at Azula. "You take care of Zuko! I," he pounded his fist against his chest exaggeratedly, "shall face the Avatar myself!" And he was gone in a puff of smoke. The gang looked down at the stage, with the exception of Toph, confused, but watching with interest all the same.

Zuko suddenly ran on stage as Azula got up from her kneeling position. "You are no longer my brother! You are an enemy!" she yelled. She clenched both of her fists upwards in a very dramatic fashion.

"No!" responded actor-Zuko. "I am the rightful heir to the throne!" He finished by pointing his finger menacingly at his pretend sister.

"We'll see," actress-Azula ended with a devious smirk.

Suddenly, both actors whipped out ribbons, Azula's blue and Zuko's red, as they began a choreographed battle. Zuko looked on at the scene from the balcony in shock and shame as cut-out fire suddenly appeared from beneath his actor. The actor was blocked out by it and rapidly, all that could be seen was his silhouette as he fell through a door in the floor.

"Honor!" was the last word out of his mouth as he plunged into trapdoor — dead. The entire audience began applauding loudly at the death of their prince. The gang looked up to see Zuko's shocked and shaken face as he faced his death — a possible scenario for the real day when Sozin's Comet did enter the earth's orbit. And what was worst of all was that Zuko couldn't believe that his people were _cheering_ for it. Katara squeezed his hand as he averted his eyes both from the stage and the gang, who were looking at him with concern.

The stage was then half-lit dramatically so the back portion was in shadow. A menacing figure could be seen sitting down in the shadows as Aang's actress walked carefully onstage, looking around for any possible "danger." A spotlight suddenly shined on the actor in said shadows as his grim voice spoke.

"So you have mastered all four elements," said Ozai as he rose from his chair. The actress-Aang suddenly spun around and faced him. "Yeah! And now, you're going down!" she replied, strangely cheerful, as she motioned downwards with her finger.

"No, it is _you_ who are going down," replied the actor in a booming voice. "You see, you are too late." Aang's actress pretended to look shocked, bringing her hands to either side of her face. "The comet is already here and I'm unstoppable!" he stated as he whipped out his red streamers.

Aang stared wide-eyed at the actors as they started battling, the Fire Lord with his red streamers and Aang with her white flagged staff—her airbending. As the battle royale continued, Ozai's actor finally shot both of his palms out, causing a giant sheet of 'fire' to blaze across the stage, hitting actress-Aang and completely wrapping around her body so that she was eventually covered in the 'fire.'

"Noooo!!!" yelled the actress dramatically as, she too, eventually fell to the floor, dead.

Azula's actress walked back on stage as Ozai smirked at his victory. "It is over Father!" she cheered. "We've done it!"

Both raised their arms dramatically as Fire Lord Ozai took center stage. "Yes, we have done it," he too cheered as fake fire began to engulf the forefront of the stage. The platform he was standing on steadily rose as more fire engulfed the back of the stage so that the whole platform was a mass of red fire.

"The dreams of my Father and my Father's father have now been realized!" he shouted, raising his arms overhead. A giant Fire Nation flag unfurled behind him. "The world is mine!" he finally shouted victoriously as the audience rose from their seats and began cheering wildly, giving him a standing ovation.

As the crowd continued cheering, the gang sat dumbstruck, glued to their seats. Toph cast her blank eyes downward and she shuffled uncomfortably. Sokka and Suki seemed to be frozen in place, arms locked around one another. Katara, who was still holding onto Zuko's hand lightly, suddenly grasped it tightly as she looked shakily at Zuko's void face. And Aang seemed unable to take his eyes away from Fire Lord Ozai's actor as he continued standing there, arms raised over his head with a triumphant smile on his face.

Eventually, Zuko seemed to get a hold of his senses as he muttered to the group, "Let's leave." As no one responded to his request, he decided to stand up.

"Now," Zuko said louder and the group seemed to be shaken out of their trances. They quietly exited the box, Zuko flattening his hair even harder against his forehead and flipping his hood up. They walked out of the theatre quickly, but silently.

The journey back to the beach house was a quiet one, except for Sokka's poor attempt at a joke to lighten the mood.

"At least the effects were decent…"

**A/N: And that, my friends, is what should have happened between Katara and Aang. R&R!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Wow okay, i'm so sorry guys for taking so long to update, and this isn't even a long or even important chapter. I'm telling you right now that it's just kind of very fluffy, lol. Spring break ended like 2 weeks ago (which is when I wrote the first 4 chapters) and I've just been suuuper busy... junior year is a killer. Anyway, I'm posting this without being beta-ed (sorry ZutaraFan4!) so I hope there aren't too many errors in it. I'll try to have the next chapter up (with more of a plot ;D) by Sunday, but I can't make any promises. Alright! R&R!**

**Chapter 5**

By the time the gang got back to the beach house, it was already late at night. The moon was nearly full, shining high in the sky, almost as if Yue herself were keeping a watch on the teenagers as her silvery rays gently brushed their skin. Other than Sokka's little outburst, no one said a word as they walked into the house. The only sounds audible were the gentle creaking of doors and the old wooden floor as everyone went wordlessly to their bedrooms. Katara and Aang were careful to stay as far apart as possible as they passed one another in the narrow upstairs hallway. As Katara and Suki entered their room and gently shut the door, Suki let out a giant, heaving sigh and flopped down in the middle of the bed.

"That was terrible." Those were first words uttered to Katara since the play ended. She turned to face Suki's body, half covered in pillows as she placed them over her face as if trying to suffocate herself. "I can't believe this place," she muttered from underneath the pillows as Katara replied, "Yeah… well that's the Fire Nation for you."

"Mmhmm," she agreed. Suki took the pillows off her face and went to get ready for bed. "We should get some rest. It's pretty late as it is and I'm beat," she began as she walked into the adjoining bathroom.

"I don't think I'm gonna go to bed just yet," said Katara from their bedroom balcony as she looked out the side of the house towards the woods.

"Why?" asked Suki as she peeped her head out of the ajar bathroom door.

"I just… I just have a lot on my mind right now," she replied vaguely as Suki slowly came out of the bathroom in her sleepwear.

"This isn't just about the play, is it," guessed Suki as she sat on the bench at the foot of the bed, watching Katara stand in the moonlight by the window. When Katara didn't answer she guessed again. "Does it have something to do with when you went to check on Aang? Did you guys have a fi—?"

"Look, Suki," Katara cut in gently, "I really don't want to talk about this with you just now."

Although Suki was a great friend to have around, especially to talk to about more "girly" matters, she was afraid to tell her what had happened. Katara was fearful that Suki would tell Sokka, and if Sokka found out, she knew he wouldn't be able to (a) shut up about it, (b) lecture her, or (c) some combination of the two.

She paused, thinking. "… maybe tomorrow, okay?" Suki nodded, respecting her friend's personal space as Katara passed by her.

"I'm just going to be on the beach, taking a walk maybe," Katara explained as she reached the door handle. Katara made an attempt to smile as she closed the door on her exhausted friend. Suki crawled into bed as she left and wondered what had happened between Katara and Aang. Before she could think too much about this, however, she was fast asleep.

Katara quickly and quietly walked down the steps, being careful to skip over the one squeaky step in the middle of the staircase. She padded barefoot out the front door, down the dirt path, and onto the soft Ember Island sand.

It was a particularly windy night and she wished that she had thought to bring out something warmer to throw over her small top. She meandered over to where the cliff face met the sea and flopped down on the cold sand, letting the tiny waves gently break over her toes.

She began to gently push and pull the water along with the tides, a calming mechanism that she had used many occasions when being with Aang and trying to save the world became too much for her. She suddenly stopped as the reality of what had just happened at the theatre, both concerning Aang and the Fire Nation's attitude, swiftly caught up with her. Katara brought her knees into her chest and just stared out at the moon's reflections on the water, trying to keep her hair out of her face as it whipped around her head from the wind. She cast her eyes downward as she started to feel her eyes burn with unshed tears.

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Zuko sat in a chair facing his bedroom window as he looked out at the cliff face being sprayed with water as the waves crashed against its rocky surface. What had happened at the play, he couldn't even… comprehend. How could his people cheer for the death of their one last savior as his ruthless, vindictive father took over the whole world? How could they, and this is what disturbed him the most, cheer for _his _own death? The people of his nation seemed to be brainwashed, and so completely uncomprehending of the world around them that they would follow his fanatical father to the ends of the earth if he asked it of them.

As Zuko sat there, slumped in despair and reflection, he turned to look back at the darkened beach. Zuko suddenly sat up straight as a movement caught his eye. As he squinted into the darkness, the figure abruptly walked out of the shadows and into the moonlight. It was Katara, walking barefoot on the sand, seeming to not care what direction she was even heading as she walked slowly towards the cliffs.

She suddenly slumped down in the sand near the cliff face and brought her arms in front of her chest. _Why is she out there?_ Zuko wondered to himself as he sat there, staring at the beautiful waterbender as she untangled her arms and began to gently move her right one back and forth, mimicking the tides. _She's probably freezing_ he thought as he stood up from his seat.

Zuko had made an impulsive decision to go outside, if not to talk to her then to at least offer her some warmth. He grabbed an extra blanket off of his bed and practically ran through his bedroom door, almost forgetting to step over the one loud, creaky stair step on his way to the beach. As he made his way out of the house and down the zigzagging dirt pathway, his footsteps finally slowed.

Zuko stepped cautiously now out onto the beach and saw Katara still sitting by the cliffs, about fifty feet away. Now, however, her knees were drawn up to her chest and her head was turned in the opposite direction of where Zuko was standing. As he got a little nearer, he timidly called out, "Katara?"

She whipped her head around to face him and Zuko noticed her a few tear tracks running down her face. He gulped, audibly. He didn't know she was crying. Katara hastily tried to dry her face inconspicuously on her arm as she realized who was there.

"Um, are you okay?" Zuko asked her, drawing nearer as his voice cracked slightly out of nervousness.

Katara looked at Zuko's face seriously while his hair was messily tossed about as the wind suddenly blew harder, then calmed. She sighed and her voice broke slightly. "I couldn't even say yes if I wanted to." Katara drew her eyes back to the ocean as the moonlight once again struck her face full on, illuminating her beautiful but melancholy face and puffy eyes.

"Oh," said Zuko as he drew up level to her. "I just saw you, you know sitting out here, and I thought you'd probably be cold… so here," he said abruptly. He stuck his arm out in front of him and for the first time, Katara realized he had been carrying something in his hands—a blanket.

Katara stared up into his moonlit face and gave him a watery smile. "Thanks," she said as she took the blanket from his outstretched hand and wrapped it around her shoulders. Zuko stood there awkwardly, fumbling with nothing in particular as Katara looked back up at him again.

"You can stay here with me… if you want," Katara said nervously as she looked into Zuko's golden eyes. "I mean," she began jokingly, "I know I'm not the best company, but…" Katara trailed off, and looked up at Zuko expectantly.

Zuko was shocked that Katara would want him to stay there with her when she obviously was terribly upset about something. He tried not to let that shock show on his face, however, as he replied.

"Um, yeah, sure." He looked down at Katara as she patted the sand next to her with her hand. Zuko, always unconsciously graceful, slowly sat down next to her and stuck his bare feet into the cold ocean water.

"Ah, that's cold," he muttered as the water hit his feet. He heated up his body temperature so that steam started to lightly come off his body. "Much better," he sighed as he took up a handful of sand in his left fist and let it slowly trickle to the ground.

"Lucky you," muttered Katara and she brought the warm blanket closer to her body as the wind picked up again.

Zuko smirked down at her jealous face. "Well," he began. "I could help you out with that little trick." Katara was just about to question him how when he raised his right arm and put it tightly around her shoulders. Katara blushed bright red, although thankfully she thought, Zuko couldn't see it in the dark. His arm suddenly got much warmer against her blanketed skin and she sighed gently.

"Better?" he asked timidly. Katara instantly felt the warmth radiating from his body. "Yes," she smiled up at him, "Much." They sat there together for an undeterminable amount of time, Zuko's arm wrapped around Katara's, as they just stared out at the vast, endless ocean. Finally Zuko got the courage to ask the question most on his mind.

"What's wrong exactly?" he asked meekly, not wanting to set off anymore waterworks from her. "Is… was it the play… or something else?" he asked, grasping at straws and unsure if he really wanted to know the answer.

Katara stared down at her knees as she thought of her answer. Zuko gripped her shoulder more firmly, both out of support and fear that she would suddenly flee.

"Yes, and no," she began with a pained expression on her face. "The ending to the play… well I think that shook everyone up," she said as Zuko nodded solemnly. As per becoming their custom, Katara took his hand and squeezed it, to show that she understood how he was feeling. "But…" she began, then trailed off again, biting her lip in confusion.

Zuko stared at her lip caught between her teeth and thought it was a very cute quirk of hers. He quickly came back to the present, however, when Katara began to speak again.

"It's… it's Aang," she finally blurted out and Zuko could see her lips start to tremble. "Ugh!" she cried out in frustration as she pulled her knees closer to her chest and rested her chin on them. "I've just… ruined _everything_." She stressed that last word as she brought her hands up to cup her face in.

Zuko scowled into the darkness. For some reason that he would never admit, he didn't like how Katara was starting this conversation, acting as if she and Aang were having… _relationship_ problems.

Katara was caught up in her own head too, however, and words suddenly exploded out from her muffled mouth. "I'm afraid that Aang's going to run off… that I've ruined our plans and that because of me, he won't be able to defeat your father."

Zuko looked at her profile in shock. He was very concerned for her now. "What's wrong Katara? What happened?" he demanded of her as he grabbed her wrists and brought her hands away from her face. She looked so scared and lost as she fought back the tears that were suddenly coming to her eyes.

"When I went to go find Aang after he left the play, I found him on a balcony outside and he was… just so angry and upset," Katara began, drawing little designs in the sand so she wouldn't have to look at the firebender's concerned face. She was trying, and for now succeeding, at keeping back the tears threatening to escape her eyes.

"He… well I've known this for a little while now but… he has a crush on me, and, and," she stuttered as she tried to come out with the right words. "… he got really upset because in the play, well you know," she muttered, blushing, "it implied all this, this _stuff_ about you and me and that Aang was more like a brother to me than anything else," she finished as she continued to swirl sand around her fingers.

"And?" asked Zuko as he waited for the rest of the explanation. Zuko already knew Aang was a little upset over the play, anyone with eyes could see that Aang liked Katara, but he didn't know why Katara was now crying in his arms over that.

Katara finally looked up into his face as he looked at her worriedly. "I told him that I didn't like him that way, and that he really _was_ like a brother to me—that I didn't want any type of relationship with him other than friends." Zuko's stomach did a little flip as she said that, although he wouldn't admit to himself why.

"And then," she continued, seeming to be relieved to get everything off of her chest. "He blamed you, said it was your fault because of what he saw in the play between the two of us, but I told him nothing ever happened… and he seemed to believe me," she ended, but that didn't seem to be the end of the story.

"So, then what happened?" asked Zuko again as he tried to comfort the waterbender as best he could.

"He… he, ugh, he kissed me and then I got really mad at him and just left him there and we haven't spoken since," she rushed, her story was finally finished.

"He kissed you when you said _no?_" Zuko asked angrily as Katara felt his body temperature spike a few degrees hotter. "I should go in there right now and—"

"No!" Katara placated as she never found out what exactly Zuko would have done to Aang. "He was just… I don't know what he was thinking," Katara said, shaking her head. She grabbed Zuko's shoulder as he began to stand up. "Don't leave Zuko, please," she pleaded with him. Zuko's angry scowl immediately turned back into a small frown. He couldn't resist her pleas. He placed his arm back over her shoulder as she smiled slightly.

"But the worst part is," Katara began and her immediately smile disappeared into a frown as she looked back at Zuko, "is that now I'm afraid, because of me, he won't be concentrated on facing and defeating Ozai; I'm afraid he'll run away and not be prepared enough for when he _does_ eventually face him… and, and," Katara tripped over her tongue.

Zuko nudged her to continue as she sat there, her head bowed in sadness and shame. "I'm afraid that because of me, he won't make it… he'll die."

Zuko just sat there as Katara averted her gaze from him, still staring downwards. Zuko was never good with talking to girls, let alone in situations like these, but he tried his best anyway.

"Katara," Zuko began and she looked up again. He timidly placed his left hand over her own. "It's not your fault. Aang… he would've found out eventually and he's just a kid; he'll get over it," he reasoned as Katara scoffed.

"I promise you, Aang will be fine in a couple of days." He looked at her very seriously now. "He won't die because of you." Zuko stared hard into her blue eyes, trying to make her see that none of this was her fault and that Aang would be fine. A few more tears leaked out of her eyes and she wiped them off. She smiled meekly at him and Zuko grinned. He was usually never that affected when girls cried, but for Katara, he just couldn't stand to when she did.

"Okay," she muttered as Zuko squeezed the hand underneath his own. Zuko looked up and noticed the moon was much lower in the sky than it had been before. He paused, then stood up as Katara looked up at him questioningly.

"It's getting pretty late… or early depending on how you look at it," he said as he nodded towards the moon. Zuko reached his hand down and Katara, surprised, took it as he helped her up. His hand was much warmer and callused than her own. Zuko went to let go of her hand, but Katara kept a firm grip on it as she began to walk back up the beach, pulling Zuko along with her.

Zuko's stomach once again flipped, as did Katara's, as they walked hand-in-hand up the beach towards Zuko's vacation home. Once they got inside, Zuko let go of Katara's hand and quietly closed the front doors. They walked up the stairwell to the hallway and Katara handed him back his blanket. "Thanks," she muttered as they stood outside their respective rooms, staring at one another.

"Uh, I'm sorry if I intrud—," began Zuko as he looked embarrassedly at his own feet, but before he could finish, Katara suddenly flung herself over to him and hugged him tightly, exactly like the other day on the pier. This time, however, the hug seemed different somehow—more personal—and both liked it.

"Sorry," murmured Katara as she seemed to get a hold of herself and pulled back. "I just wanted to, you know, say thanks… for everything. You really helped me." She smiled up at him so sincerely that Zuko couldn't help but grin largely back at her.

"Well, I'm always here if you need to… to talk… or anything else," he said as they both backed away to their doors.

"I'll hold you to that," Katara smirked as she turned her door handle. "Goodnight," she whispered from inside the door.

"Goodnight," replied Zuko as for the second night, they wished each other a good night's rest before slipping into better dreams.


End file.
